Development of an in vitro 3D Printed Liver Sinusoid Model

Liver is one of the most remarkable organs of the human body as it performs various vital functions namely metabolism of fats and carbohydrates, drugs, detoxification, production of bile and has a capacity to regenerate. The intricate functional units of the liver called the sinusoids are of immense interest as they are early targets of many drugs and toxicants as well as have been reported to play a significant role in initiating liver regeneration and contribute to the pathophysiology of many liver diseases. Thus, understanding the functioning of these microvascular structures can be instrumental in providing us a multitude of information. Furthermore, as this area is targeted by many drugs and toxicants replicating the sinusoid in vitro can provide us with accurate drug testing devices as well as help in development of newer and more effective drugs. Here, we present a 3D printed liver sinusoidal model that contains a biomimetic liver decellularized extracellular matrix hydrogel to support the culture of hepatocytes. The prepared hydrogel has a potential to provide cells an environment similar to the native microenvironment of the sinusoids. The microarchitecture is mimicked by preparing a 3D printed scaffold emulating the native sinusoid to a certain extent. This is the first liver sinusoid model which has liver dECM gel to support the hepatocytes and thus has tremendous potential of becoming a device which can be used for drug testing as well as for studying the complex pathophysiology of life threatening liver diseases such as cirrhosis, fibrosis etc